By Rick Morris
Never let it be said that I'm not a generous man. In the headline to this column, I just furnished, for free, the answer to one of the most pressing problems facing a multi-billion dollar conglomerate in the NFL. You're welcome, Commissioner Goodell.
Let's face it: it's a huge embarrassment for the NFL, which is admittedly the king of all American sports circuits, to have gone what will be a decade and a half without a franchise in the second-largest media market in the country. Sure, LA sports fans are spoiled and generally indifferent and lacking in any passion whatsoever. But it's no excuse for the league not to have a presence there. The freaking NHL has found a way to make two teams work in the LA-and-greater-environs territory; the NFL can't manage one?
In the continued freakish grasping for an answer, no matter how nonsensical, the league is apparently now willing to entertain the notion that the answer to the 49'ers' stadium issues lies in the southern half of the state. That is absolutely insane. The team is too ingrained in the NoCal market to entertain such a move. While neither team from the area should move, at least if the Raiders return south, they've got a heritage of sorts in the area.
But again, neither team should move south. Nor should any team move west to LA. The answer lies in having one team move north -- but not all the way north.
The Chargers.
San Diego is having its own issues regarding stadium needs. Back in the AFL days, the team actually played up north and was first known as the Los Angeles Chargers. So there's a heritage here, however distant.
Oceanside has been mentioned as a possibility, although talks fell apart. They collapsed purely because they were conducted in the where-are-the-Chargers-going-to-play vacuum. Connect these talks to the issue of how to solve the LA situation, involve the full might of the NFL to find a resolution and the situation is drastically different.
Why?
Oceanside is located roughly halfway between San Diego and Los Angeles. Plant the team in the area, give it an official shared identity for the Los Angeles/Anaheim/San Diego markets and boom, situation solved. If Oceanside still proves to be too tough of a nut to crack, try some other possibilities in the immediate area, Carlsbad, San Clemente, etc.
But the bottom line remains the same: two birds can be killed with one stone here. Find a feasible city roughly halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego on Interstate 5 and solve the LA and San Diego dilemmas with one fell swoop.
Showing posts with label Roger Goodell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roger Goodell. Show all posts
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Expansion and player supply in sports
By Rick Morris
In a recent conversation with FDH analyst Jon Adams, we spoke of the likelihood that the NFL would expand in the coming years rather than relocating an existing team to meet their goal of placing a franchise back in Los Angeles. I mentioned that I could see this happening in tandem with an expansion of the schedule, as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell seems to have successfully floated the trial balloon of a 17th game played overseas by every team. Jon rightfully expressed displeasure at the notion of a move to 34 teams accompanying a 17-week schedule, since we can already see how the league's talent base was watered down noticeably by expansion in 1999 and 2002.
Goodell, a sharp operator, is probably pushing the league's global presence at least in part because the league does not have a strong enough global presence long-term to staff the number of teams they want to have. But they are putting the cart before the horse a bit if they intend to expand the league also in the next decade.
Expansion in other sports was initially accompanied by cries that it had come too soon and too dramatically -- and would later trigger calls for contraction. But as the talent pool caught up to the number of jobs available, equilibrium returned in these situations.
In baseball, the 1960s triggered a wave of expansion that continued into 1977, then resumed in 1993 and 1998. While it used to be fashionable to speak of how the game had become watered down, this talking point has become muted, even in terms of pitching. The international expansion of the game has brought players from all corners of Latin America, the Pacific Rim and even a few other corners of the world. Besides, baseball historians from groups such as SABR have disabused thinking people of the notion that players such as Babe Ruth had it harder because they faced only a handful of teams and therefore, the "best of the best on a daily basis." None of those teams included players of color and as such, the greatest players in the world were subdivided into three groups that played against only themselves: the American League, the National League and the Negro Leagues (except for the AL and NL in the All-Star Game and the World Series). But the overall talent level of top players wasn't much different back then if we think beyond Major League Baseball and take the top Negro League teams into consideration. As such, any advantages Babe Ruth may have had in not having to face 13 other AL pitching staffs were negated by not having to face Negro League hurlers.
The winter sports of basketball and hockey likewise faced troubling questions when they expanded rapidly from the late 1980s onward. Both clearly moved far beyond the pool of worthy talent available when they placed franchises far and wide and the NHL in particular faced much criticism for their "Sunbelt Strategy" of putting down roots in sunny markets completely unaccustomed to their product. But those complaints have quieted in recent years, as both have benefited from a global talent pool now available to them. Even traditional hockey fans in Canada inclined to believe that the game was never better and tighter than it was when there were only half as many teams must admit that the lack of players available back then from Iron Curtain countries worked against the advancement of the sport. And in the NBA, the international players have led the charge back towards fundamentals and away from the disturbing drift towards "streetball" and in so doing, have pushed it in the right direction. Proving that a blind squirrel really does find an acorn now and again, ESPN columnist and mighty self-parody Bill Simmons opines this week that the NBA talent level is at its highest point since the early 1990s -- and he's right.
Now, the NFL truly is the biggest and the baddest of the American sports leagues. It seems truly bulletproof in terms of continued viability at this level. But Goodell should ponder the lessons of other sports before deciding to bump the league up to 34 teams. Continued overseas games, while aggravating to many jingoistic, chest-thumping, Neanderthal football fans, are a necessary evil in terms of developing a global talent base. The 17th game on the schedule may prove unavoidable with this being the case. Because football takes such a back seat to soccer internationally (inexplicably, I might add!), the product must be exposed at a micro level to people all over the world so that the league can cultivate young fans who aspire to play on Sundays. While the NHL, NBA and MLB trail the NFL in popularity and clout, at least they can truthfully state that their leagues are fully stocked with players who deserve to be there, thanks to the integration of top talent all over the world. The NFL won't be able to say the same, much less consider further expansion as a viable consideration, until they begin to feature talent from Asia, Europe, Africa and all areas of the world.
In a recent conversation with FDH analyst Jon Adams, we spoke of the likelihood that the NFL would expand in the coming years rather than relocating an existing team to meet their goal of placing a franchise back in Los Angeles. I mentioned that I could see this happening in tandem with an expansion of the schedule, as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell seems to have successfully floated the trial balloon of a 17th game played overseas by every team. Jon rightfully expressed displeasure at the notion of a move to 34 teams accompanying a 17-week schedule, since we can already see how the league's talent base was watered down noticeably by expansion in 1999 and 2002.
Goodell, a sharp operator, is probably pushing the league's global presence at least in part because the league does not have a strong enough global presence long-term to staff the number of teams they want to have. But they are putting the cart before the horse a bit if they intend to expand the league also in the next decade.
Expansion in other sports was initially accompanied by cries that it had come too soon and too dramatically -- and would later trigger calls for contraction. But as the talent pool caught up to the number of jobs available, equilibrium returned in these situations.
In baseball, the 1960s triggered a wave of expansion that continued into 1977, then resumed in 1993 and 1998. While it used to be fashionable to speak of how the game had become watered down, this talking point has become muted, even in terms of pitching. The international expansion of the game has brought players from all corners of Latin America, the Pacific Rim and even a few other corners of the world. Besides, baseball historians from groups such as SABR have disabused thinking people of the notion that players such as Babe Ruth had it harder because they faced only a handful of teams and therefore, the "best of the best on a daily basis." None of those teams included players of color and as such, the greatest players in the world were subdivided into three groups that played against only themselves: the American League, the National League and the Negro Leagues (except for the AL and NL in the All-Star Game and the World Series). But the overall talent level of top players wasn't much different back then if we think beyond Major League Baseball and take the top Negro League teams into consideration. As such, any advantages Babe Ruth may have had in not having to face 13 other AL pitching staffs were negated by not having to face Negro League hurlers.
The winter sports of basketball and hockey likewise faced troubling questions when they expanded rapidly from the late 1980s onward. Both clearly moved far beyond the pool of worthy talent available when they placed franchises far and wide and the NHL in particular faced much criticism for their "Sunbelt Strategy" of putting down roots in sunny markets completely unaccustomed to their product. But those complaints have quieted in recent years, as both have benefited from a global talent pool now available to them. Even traditional hockey fans in Canada inclined to believe that the game was never better and tighter than it was when there were only half as many teams must admit that the lack of players available back then from Iron Curtain countries worked against the advancement of the sport. And in the NBA, the international players have led the charge back towards fundamentals and away from the disturbing drift towards "streetball" and in so doing, have pushed it in the right direction. Proving that a blind squirrel really does find an acorn now and again, ESPN columnist and mighty self-parody Bill Simmons opines this week that the NBA talent level is at its highest point since the early 1990s -- and he's right.
Now, the NFL truly is the biggest and the baddest of the American sports leagues. It seems truly bulletproof in terms of continued viability at this level. But Goodell should ponder the lessons of other sports before deciding to bump the league up to 34 teams. Continued overseas games, while aggravating to many jingoistic, chest-thumping, Neanderthal football fans, are a necessary evil in terms of developing a global talent base. The 17th game on the schedule may prove unavoidable with this being the case. Because football takes such a back seat to soccer internationally (inexplicably, I might add!), the product must be exposed at a micro level to people all over the world so that the league can cultivate young fans who aspire to play on Sundays. While the NHL, NBA and MLB trail the NFL in popularity and clout, at least they can truthfully state that their leagues are fully stocked with players who deserve to be there, thanks to the integration of top talent all over the world. The NFL won't be able to say the same, much less consider further expansion as a viable consideration, until they begin to feature talent from Asia, Europe, Africa and all areas of the world.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Have some whine with that cheesesteak
By Rick Morris
The Eagles have figured out how they lost Super Bowl 39 to the Patriots. It wasn't the pace of their play-calling towards the end of the game, which even Mel Turpin thought was lethargic. It wasn't getting out-schemed by a superior coaching staff. No, it had to be more filming shenanigans, sez they.
Look, the Patriots' cheating (and yes it was cheating, chowds) was reprehensible and they received an appropriate punishment from Commissioner Roger Goodell. And I of all people am queasy about defending Bill Belichick in any way as I am a long-suffering Browns fan who had to tolerate his arrogant inexperience in the early '90s complete with mandating bootlegs for Bernie Kosar so he could get rid of him notwithstanding the team's winning record at the time. But, come on, Eagles!
The Patriots' disregard of league rules in some specific instances should not give license for every sore loser they have trounced in recent years to cry for a mulligan. I know that Philly's championship drought has caused the same kind of blind whining and bitching all too evident in my hometown of Cleveland, but try to muster some pride!
The Eagles have figured out how they lost Super Bowl 39 to the Patriots. It wasn't the pace of their play-calling towards the end of the game, which even Mel Turpin thought was lethargic. It wasn't getting out-schemed by a superior coaching staff. No, it had to be more filming shenanigans, sez they.
Look, the Patriots' cheating (and yes it was cheating, chowds) was reprehensible and they received an appropriate punishment from Commissioner Roger Goodell. And I of all people am queasy about defending Bill Belichick in any way as I am a long-suffering Browns fan who had to tolerate his arrogant inexperience in the early '90s complete with mandating bootlegs for Bernie Kosar so he could get rid of him notwithstanding the team's winning record at the time. But, come on, Eagles!
The Patriots' disregard of league rules in some specific instances should not give license for every sore loser they have trounced in recent years to cry for a mulligan. I know that Philly's championship drought has caused the same kind of blind whining and bitching all too evident in my hometown of Cleveland, but try to muster some pride!
Monday, August 20, 2007
Vick guilty -- only the stupid are surprised
By Rick Morris
For all the insipid talk that Michael Vick was "innocent until proven guilty," today he admitted the obvious when he copped his plea: he is indeed guilty of heinously murdering animals by way of operating his dog-fighting ring. The truly stupid and delusional people of this world who defiantly maintained their trust in him despite all evidence of his guilt are no doubt rationalizing that "it's only dogs we're talking about" and "the System set him up" and "he's only going to jail because his friends snitched on him."
I expressed rage on The FDH Lounge show when Vick entered what he now admitted was a lying plea of "Not Guilty." He has shown himself, by these actions and others from the past, to be a classless degenerate, so it may surprise some readers to know that I do support his conditional reinstatement to the NFL. I would like to see NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell institute a suspension from the league which would not run concurrent with Vick's prison sentence, so we may be talking a few years down the road before Vick could be reinstated. But this would allow him an opportunity to get back into the league, assuming that one of the 32 teams in the league would take the necessary public relations risk and would be willing to carve an offensive scheme to his abilities. This strikes me as the necessary balance between the harsh penalty Vick's reprehensible lifestyle deserves and the American tradition of allowing a chance for redemption.
For all the insipid talk that Michael Vick was "innocent until proven guilty," today he admitted the obvious when he copped his plea: he is indeed guilty of heinously murdering animals by way of operating his dog-fighting ring. The truly stupid and delusional people of this world who defiantly maintained their trust in him despite all evidence of his guilt are no doubt rationalizing that "it's only dogs we're talking about" and "the System set him up" and "he's only going to jail because his friends snitched on him."
I expressed rage on The FDH Lounge show when Vick entered what he now admitted was a lying plea of "Not Guilty." He has shown himself, by these actions and others from the past, to be a classless degenerate, so it may surprise some readers to know that I do support his conditional reinstatement to the NFL. I would like to see NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell institute a suspension from the league which would not run concurrent with Vick's prison sentence, so we may be talking a few years down the road before Vick could be reinstated. But this would allow him an opportunity to get back into the league, assuming that one of the 32 teams in the league would take the necessary public relations risk and would be willing to carve an offensive scheme to his abilities. This strikes me as the necessary balance between the harsh penalty Vick's reprehensible lifestyle deserves and the American tradition of allowing a chance for redemption.
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